Playing on the LPGA Tour is an adjustment for any new player. The crowds are bigger, the lights a little brighter, the field full of the best in the world.
Yet under the brightest of lights near the Hollywood sign, Isi Gabsa matched her best round of her budding LPGA career, carding a 68 in the open of the HUGEL-AIR PREMIA LA Open.
“I was quite nervous the first couple of events. The people you see on TV, all of a sudden you play with them. Now it’s getting better, the last two events I started feeling comfortable out here,” Gabsa told LPGA.com.
The 2018 Epson Tour graduate came out of the 2019 season gates with a strong performance despite her nerves, finishing T17 in the ISPS Handa Vic Open. After making the cut at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, she’s missed the last three cuts.
Her game has shown flashes of the comfort she’s finding. She posted a four under at the Kia Classic, and opened with a one under round at the LOTTE Championship, missing the cut by a stroke last week.
The German’s comfort level is further helped by having her brother on the bag, who’s caddied on and off for her since the age of 11. If you see her laughing at her caddy, it’s likely due to a familiar sibling dynamic.
“He’s my older brother so he teases me all the time on the course.”
Gabsa has also enjoyed taking in the sights and tastes of new cities she’s visited. It’s her first week in the city of Los Angeles, enjoying the new food and experiences that she’s never had before.
Accomplishing her season goal would allow her to continue to see visit places she hasn’t seen before. “I just want to keep my card, that would be awesome. I want to go to all of the Asian Swing, just playing and seeing the countries I’ve never been to.”
Gabsa tees off tomorrow with an opportunity to help herself accomplish that goal, as she sits at three under par.